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A unique twenty-first century insight into nineteenth-century photographic methods, artist duo Walter and Zoniel capture portraits of a new generation of London's creative leaders via a giant 'camera obscura', fixes them in silver nitrate and develops on glass plate - a 'positive' rather than a 'negative.' Their methods and artworks are shown here in image and film.

About

Artist due Walter and Zoniel's work deviates from the standard photographic fayre: reviving a technique from photography's inception in the Victorian era, Walter and Zoniel coat, expose and fix their silver nitrate portraits on plates of glass, captured through a gigantic camera obscura painstaking assembled for each photographic session. In May 2011, SHOWstudio invited Walter and Zoniel to work in-house at our LiveStudio to continue his series Reflecting the Bright Lights: Capturing A Moment In Silver Nitrate, shooting portraits of Walter and Zoniel's choice of contemporary London's great and good and simultaneously offering a digital-age window onto Dickensian photographic techniques.

Taken from the live stream footage captured over Walter and Zoniel's residency, this film offers a unique twenty-first century insight into nineteenth-century photographic methods as the artist captures portraits of a new generation of London's creative leaders via a giant 'camera obscura', fixes them in nitrate and develops on glass - the entire process from conception to completion showcased here.